The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
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A mine that could suck billions of tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and turn it to stone while also producing the nickel, cobalt, and other metals needed for zero-emissions electric vehicles would be the ultimate prize for Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk. Carbin Minerals and Carbfix, two companies developing just that type of technology, have been awarded $1 million from XPRIZE, a global future-positive movement envisioned by Musk and supported by his foundation. XPRIZE...
An updated feasibility study for developing a mine at Elk Creek confirms that the proposed niobium-titanium-scandium mine in Nebraska also boasts one of the richest stores of rare earth elements in the United States. According to the new report released by NioCorp Developments Ltd. on May 19, Elk Creek hosts 632,900 metric tons of total rare earth oxides, 970,300 metric tons of niobium oxide, along with 11,337 metric tons of scandium oxide and 4.2 million metric tons of...
In a landmark deal that is expected to further solidify Quebec as a major North American hub for the enormous quantities of graphite needed for the lithium-ion batteries powering the electric vehicle revolution, Nouveau Monde Graphite Inc. has agreed to invest in advancing Mason Graphite Inc.'s Lac Guéret graphite project toward development. Under an option and joint venture agreement announced on May 16, Nouveau Monde will invest up to C$5 million into the equity of Mason...
To help shore up domestic supplies of the cobalt, graphite, lithium, nickel, and other materials that go into lithium-ion batteries, the U.S. Department of Energy has directed $3.16 billion from the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to bolster supply chains. This multi-billion-dollar funding comes a month after President Biden authorized the Pentagon to utilize the estimated $750 million of available Defense Production Act Title III funding to establish and...
Despite being home to one of the safest mining sectors in the world, Ontario is always looking for innovative ideas "to ensure that those who work in Ontario's mines come home healthy and safe at the end of every shift." Toward this goal, Ontario Mine Rescue has entered into a multi-year partnership with Dräger Canada and Focus FS to deploy next-generation mine rescue technology to more than 30 mines in the province. "This partnership demonstrates everyone's commitment to...
Komatsu Ltd. will be showcasing its FrontRunner autonomous haulage system at Anglo American's Los Bronces open pit copper mine in Chile. Coupled with Komatsu's DISPATCH fleet management system, the FrontRunner autonomous technology for mining trucks has an established 14-year track record of increasing productivity, lowering maintenance costs, and improving safety at mines. FrontRunner was first commercially installed on trucks at the Codelco's Gabriela Mistral copper mine in...
A small, made-in-British-Columbia device that uses sensors typically found in breweries and greenhouses has proven to be useful in the exploration of critical minerals. A new report from Geoscience BC shows that this device can indicate the presence of geological faults and sulfide mineralization through real-time measurements of the concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide in soil. This ability to sniff out CO2 in the soil can help geologists identify potential mineral...
Global mining and metals company Rio Tinto has entered into a strategic partnership that includes a roughly US$10 million (C$12.5 million) investment in Nano One Materials Corp., a British Columbia-based company that has developed a technology equivalent to the "Instant Pot" of lithium battery cathode materials. While there has been a lot of buzz about the hundreds of factories being constructed around the globe to manufacture the lithium batteries needed for the electric...
The rare earth magnets that help wind turbines transform a breeze into low-carbon electricity and then convert that energy to horsepower in the motors of electric vehicles will soon be made in Oklahoma. On June 9, USA Rare Earth LLC announced it bought a 309,0000-square-foot building in Stillwater, an Oklahoma city that boasts a growing high-tech economy, to house its rare earth elements processing and magnets plant. "Oklahoma has long been on the cutting edge of energy...
The United States Department of Defense is investing US$120 million to fund a heavy rare earths separation facility to be owned and operated by Lynas USA LLC, a subsidiary of Australia-based Lynas Rare Earths Ltd. This facility is to be built alongside a light rare earths separation facility that is being co-funded by the Pentagon and Lynas. "The U.S. Government's selection of Lynas for this strategic contract reflects our proven track record in Rare Earths production," said...
With the ability to charge faster, store more energy, and be less likely to catch fire than their liquid lithium-ion battery counterparts, solid-state lithium batteries are considered by many in the automotive industry as the Holy Grail of the electric vehicle revolution. With the June 6 announcement that Solid Power Inc. has completed a pilot production line, Ford Motor Company and BMW Group are one step closer to realizing their vision of producing longer-range, lower-cost,...
Another major automaker has gotten in line to purchase future supplies of low-carbon lithium that Controlled Thermal Resources Ltd. will be cooking up from geothermal brines at its Hell's Kitchen project in the Salton Sea area of Southern California. On June 2, Stellantis signed a binding offtake agreement with CTR for up to 25,000 metric tons of battery-grade lithium hydroxide per year for the batteries going into Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and other electric vehicles it wil...
Global automaker Stellantis and battery manufacturer Samsung SDI have forged a partnership that will invest US$2.5 billion to establish an electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Kokomo, Indiana. "It's another incredibly exciting day to be back in Kokomo celebrating such a transformational investment from Stellantis and our new partners at Samsung," said Gov. Eric Holcomb. "Today's announcement is another step toward positioning Indiana as a leader in the future of...
In a major step toward achieving its mission to help accelerate the mass adoption of electric vehicles by providing an alternative to the graphite anode materials typically used in the lithium-ion batteries that power them, NEO Battery Materials Ltd. plans to invest US$20 million (C$25 million) to build and expand a silicon anode plant in the province of Gyeonggi, South Korea. As an anode material, silicon has demonstrated the potential to have up to 10 times more storage...
Recent lab tests carried out by researchers from the University of British Columbia indicate that a nickel mine at FPX Nickel Corp.'s Baptiste project in central British Columbia could absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the CO2 that would be emitted to dig up and extract this critical ingredient of the lithium-ion batteries going into electric vehicles, home electronics, cordless power tools, and growing list of battery-powered devices. A road-accessible...
With the goal of developing a carbon-neutral open pit mine at its Blackwater gold project in British Columbia, Artemis Gold Inc. has cut a deal with Caterpillar Inc. for the future delivery of electric haul trucks. Located in Central BC, the Blackwater Mine is forecast to produce roughly 7.5 million ounces of gold and 40.4 million oz of silver over 22 years. A feasibility study published last fall details an open-pit operation that will be developed in phases – starting off a...
Rio Tinto is leveraging the safety and productivity advantages of Sandvik's autonomous mining equipment as it heads underground at the enormous Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in the South Gobi Desert region of Mongolia. Oyu Tolgoi, which began operations as an open pit mine in 2013, produced 359.4 million pounds of copper, 468,000 ounces of gold, and 977,000 oz of silver last year. Turquoise Hill Resources, a company that is majority-owned by Rio Tinto that operates Oyu Tolgoi,...
The International Energy Agency warns that traffic jams threaten the clean energy future. Not on global highways congested with electric vehicles, nor in lines of these EVs waiting to top off their batteries with low-carbon electricity at charging stations. Instead, this gridlock is more likely to happen in automotive and battery factories that cannot find plentiful and affordable supplies of the minerals and metals needed. "Prices of many minerals and metals that are essentia...
As part of a wider initiative to recover critical minerals as byproducts at its current mining operations, Rio Tinto is now producing the tellurium used in thin-film photovoltaic solar panels at its Kennecott copper operation in Utah. "We are proud to deliver a new domestic supply of tellurium to support the manufacturing of solar panels and other critical equipment here in the United States," said Rio Tinto Copper Chief Operating Officer Clayton Walker. This key ingredient...
Manganese X Energy Corp. is rapidly advancing plans to become a North American producer of manganese, an oft-overlooked metal critical to lithium-ion batteries. The company recently published a preliminary economic assessment that outlines a financially robust mine at its Battery Hill project in New Brunswick that would produce an average of 68,000 metric tons of battery-grade, high-purity manganese sulphate sulfate monohydrate (HPMSM) annually for 47 years. This long-lived...
How much rock must be moved to produce the metals in an Apple iPhone, Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle or any other product that requires mined commodities (i.e., nearly everything)? Apple teamed up with the United States Geological Survey to develop a "rock-to-metal ratio" that makes it easier to answer that question. Metals are essential to every aspect of modern life. Even a bowl of oatmeal requires these fundamental building materials to grow, ship, and process this...
The rumors are true, Tesla Inc. will be buying nickel for the lithium-ion batteries powering its vehicles from Vale's Canada operations. "We are pleased to have the leading electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla among our customers," said Vale Executive Vice President of Base Metals Deshnee Naidoo. A Brazil-based mining company with operations around the globe, Vale is the world's largest nickel producer. Under a long-term contract confirmed by both companies, Vale will supply...
With its lithium-ion battery materials park in Canada on pace to begin ramping up production in phases beginning at the end of this year, Electra Battery Materials Corp. continues to expand a cobalt deposit in Idaho that could provide the United States with an environmentally sound and socially acceptable domestic supply of this metal critical to electric vehicle batteries. "At a time of heightened geopolitical risk, America has committed to securing a domestic supply of...
In a move to help decarbonize the largest underground mine in India, Hindustan Zinc has signed a deal to acquire a fleet of Sandvik electric mining equipment for its Sindesar Khurd zinc-lead-silver operation. Under a memorandum of understanding, Sandvik will deliver an LH518B battery-electric loader, three battery-electric TH550B underground trucks, and a DD422iE electric drill rig with Sandvik's unique and patented "charging-while-drilling" technology. Built on Artisan...
Nearly every mine on Earth has a source of potential low-carbon energy that remains largely untapped – the natural surface waters flowing into, through and out of the operation. Germany-based SmartH2OEnergy, however, is investigating an innovative approach that transforms the potential of waters from various mining processes into energy that can help power the operation. Along with wind and solar, hydropower is a great source of zero-carbon electricity for power-hungry m...
